MI landlord is losing house

[juwills]

We have been renting our house in Michigan for 3 1/2 years, always paying our rent on time. A notice came in the mail from the city clerk's office describing this house as the property to be forfeited for nonpayment of taxes. We tried contacting the landlord, but both of his phones had been disconnected. I finally found a new phone number for him on a rental sign in front of another property of his. When I asked him, he told me that he was losing the house at the end of March of next year and has no intention of paying the taxes. This leaves us in a bad situation as we need a place to live. Our finances are tight and we are having trouble saving up the money to move while still paying the rent. Our original lease was for one year and is now from month to month. He even discussed selling the property to us, but never mentioned the unpaid taxes. We told him that we weren't interested in it unless he replaced the drain pipe in the basement. He said that he would fix it but never did. That conversation was over a year ago. What rights do we have in this situation? Isn't paying taxes a form of maintenance? Can we sue him? Should we take a chance of getting evicted in order to save the money to move somewhere else? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[grasmicc]

There's not anything you can do other than perhaps try to buy the house from the city.

You have a month-to-month lease, and the property owner - be it the city or whoever - can terminate it with typical notice.

If you were in the middle of a 3 year lease then you'd have some more options, but as it is, you don't really have a "right" to renew your lease each month...

[elklaw]

Get out! You can try to be cheap, but the landlord has no money, is telling you he is not paying the taxes, and you have notice so you can move. So you should give the landlord notice and move.
I suggest you consult a local attorney via a free initial consultation to see if there are better options for your area.